In August 1944 the Gotha Aircraft Company was given the job of
series production of the Horten brothers' Ho IX all-wing fighter, which would
be known as the Horten Ho 229 . After
receiving the plans and design data, Gotha engineers found some areas for
improvement. The Ho 229 was limited in space to install new equipment or to
add more crew members. More importantly, since the engines were to be
enclosed in the wing, different engines could not be fitted without extensive
aerodynamic testing, which was not possible time wise considering the
worsening war situation for Germany.

The Gotha designers, led by Dr. Ing. Hünerjäger, proposed an
alternate all-wing design to the RLM in January 1945 which used many of the
construction techniques as the Horten aircraft but had the advantage of being
able to be modified with new equipment and engines without changing the flying
characteristics greatly. The basic construction was to be a welded steel tube
frame covered by plywood and "Formholz", a molded and formed wood sheathing.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Gotha P 60A

The Gotha Go P.60A was a flying wing that was powered by two
turbojet engines near the rear of the wing center section, one above the wing
and one below. One advantage to this arrangement was that any jet engine could
be fitted, and maintenance would be easier with the engines in the exposed
nacelles. However, in the designed Go P.60A, two BMW 003A-1 with 800 kp (1763
lbs) of thrust were to be used at first. Three fuel tanks were enclosed within
the wings, one 1200 liter (317 gallon) tank in each outer wing panel and one
1200 liter (317 gallon) tank behind the cockpit. The pressurized and armored
cockpit, located in the extreme nose, held two men who were in a prone (lying
down) position. The prone position had the advantage of allowing the crew to
withstand G-forces better, and was researched in the
Berlin B9 test
aircraft. This system was also used in the
DFS 228 high altitude
reconnaissance aircraft and the
Henschel Hs 132 jet
powered dive bomber. The main landing gear legs retracted to the front and
rotated 90 degrees to lay flat. The nose gear was offset to the port side and
retracted to the rear.
To cure stall during landing, the wing leading edge was fitted with
hydraulically activated split flaps. There were also a pair of conventional
split flaps mounted at the rear which were installed with a 15 degree forward
sweep and also could be used as air brakes. The other three types of control
were:

Elevators/Elevons - located in the inner trailing edge of the wing
and were provided with auxiliary trim tabs

Ailerons - located in the outer trailing edge of the wing and had
internally balanced control flaps

Drag Rudders - located in the wing tips at a 18 degree angle (to the
aircraft centerline), they were designed for the pilot to be used during
high speed maneuvers

Armament was to be four MK 108 30mm machine cannon (150 rounds inner
cannon, 175 rounds outer cannon) for the Höhenjäger (High Altitude
Fighter) version, two MK 103 30mm machine cannon (175 rounds per gun) for the
Zerstörer (Heavy Fighter) version and two MK 108 30mm machine cannon
and two RB 50/18 cameras for the Aufklärer (Reconnaissance) version.
The Höhenjäger (High Altitude Fighter) version could also to be fitted
with a Walter HWK 509B rocket engine to increase the ceiling and climb rate,
and was thus designated the Gotha Go P.60A/R .
One of the main criticisms of the Go P.60A was the difficulty for the
crew to escape while in flight. One solution was to mount both jet engines
below the wing, and this proposed version was to be known as the
Go P.60A-2 . Unfortunately, this configuration reduced the
roll rate in combat and was eliminated. Although further versions were to have
some sort of ejection device for the crew, the war's end prevented the
completion of the Gotha Go P.60A.